Abrams gives his take on U.S. foreign policy, with special focus on the Middle East and democracy and human rights issues.

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In July 1978, the Soviet dissident Anatoly Sharansky was sentenced in a Soviet court for the “crimes” of teaching Hebrew, seeking emigration to Israel, and being part of the human rights movement in Moscow. He was charged with treason and espionage for these activities. His speech to the court is rightly famous: Read more »

Next week, on November 12, new members of the UN Human Rights Council will be elected. Among the candidates are nations that should never be allowed on the Council, and indeed whose presence will make the Council a mockery: Cuba, Russia, Saudi Arabia, China, and Vietnam. Read more »

December 10 is Human Rights Day, and the International Committee for Liu Xiaobo along with Chinese advocates of human rights have organized a petition of 134 Nobel Prize winners demanding the release of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo. Their letter to Xi Jinping, the new General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, as well as the list of Nobel Prize winners, can be found here. They have also launched a citizens’ petition drive aimed at the Chinese government, and it has gathered 200,000 signatures so far. These drives have a second goal as well: the release from years of house arrest of Liu’s wife Liu Xia. And today we have a remarkable Associated Press (AP) report on Liu Xia, because two AP reporters managed to get to her apartment when the policemen outside her home went off to lunch. An account and a video of the interview can be found at China Digital Times. Here is an excerpt: Read more »

The policy of the Obama administration toward China has been a failure. Secretary Clinton’s recent trip was a reminder of this, because it was filled with friction and achieved very little. Here is an account from the Los Angeles Times: Read more »

The recent closure of two private schools in China for the crime of trying to sustain Tibetan culture is a reminder that Beijing’s war on Tibetans continues.

Radio Free Asia reports that “Chinese authorities have closed two Tibetan private schools in the Gansu and Qinghai provinces and detained at least five staff as authorities moved to restrict assertions of national identity in Tibetan-populated areas of western China.” Read more »

It is difficult to draw final conclusions about the case of Chen Guancheng. He is unable to speak freely, and U.S. officials probably are as well, for a different reason: they have a variety of motives for whatever they say. They want to protect U.S.-PRC relations, the reputations of Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Locke, and the political interests of President Obama–and are probably more intensely focused on those goals than the protection of Mr. Chen. It may be a while before all the facts are clear. Read more »

China's new Politburo Standing Committee Members (from L to R) Zhou Yongkang, Li Keqiang, Li Changchun, Wen Jiabao, Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Jia Qinglin, Xi Jinping and He Guoqiang line up at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing October 22, 2007. (Courtesy REUTERS/David Gray)

This week brought yet more prison terms for yet more Chinese dissidents. As the Washington Postreported, Read more »